Rapper Mark Steele is celebrating the release of his second album Almost Time. He recently hosted two listening parties for the new album in New York City and Atlanta.

The Durham, NC native has been rapping since the age of 15. He’s mentored by rapper 9th Wonder, who is also Mark’s former college professor. The Grammy Award-winning producer has worked with many various artists including Big Boi of Outkast, Mary J. Blige, Drake, Destiny’s Child, Jill Scott, and Jay-Z. 9th Wonder would go on to instructed Hip-Hop related classes at North Carolina Central University, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania.

In 2014, Mark released his first album, Sumthin For The Wait, which carried the single “Not Like Yall“. The song was featured on ESPN’s morning debate show “First Take” and was played throughout March 2014 in celebration of March Madness. “Not Like Yall” was originally on Mark’s mixtape Empty Auditorium. Sumtin For The Wait also featured another hit single titled “All I Wanna Do”.

Mark Steele would later get more recognition from ESPN’s Sports Center for his single “Greatness“, which became an anthem for the show. The song was off his 2015 EP, History Repeats. “Greatness” would prove that Mark Steele is an artist not to be taken so lightly.

Almost Time includes collaborations from artists like singer Raheem Devaughn and rapper Big Pooh. His single “Big Dreams” was featured on Beats 1 #DiscoveredOnAppleMusic by Ebro of New York’s Hot97 radio station. Other singles like “Turn Around” and “Aint Real” have gotten nods from the music industry and media outlets.

Mark hosted two listening parties to celebrate the release of his album. His listening party in New York City doubled as a local coat drive event. The on in Atlanta was coupled with a book drive where all donations would go toward the American Kidney Fund. AKF is a non-profit organization that helps people fight kidney disease and live a healthier lifestyle. The organization is known for taking various items as donations including clothing, furniture, and even cars. Both listening parties were held in boutique clothing stores and were sponsored by Effen Vodka and Monster Energy.

Almost Time was released at the end of last year and is currently out everywhere. You can check it out on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Spotify.